“Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves, or as a mere setting in which we live. We are a part of nature”.                                                                            Pope Francis The first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970. Earth Day is ...

Did you know that April is Earth month? April Food for Thought articles will focus on topics concerning care for God’s creation, including information on area activities for Earth Day (April 22).  As we prepare to consider this sacred obligation, consider praying this beautiful prayer excerpted from ...

Episcopal priest Cynthia Bourgeault writes of hope as a quality of God’s mercy, fully available to us through contemplative practice: . It is entered always and only through surrender; that is, through the willingness to let go of everything we are presently clinging to. And yet when we enter it, it enters us and fills us with its own life—a quiet strength beyond anything we have ever known. And since that strength is, in fact, a piece of God’s purposiveness coursing like...

Catholic Social Teaching calls people to “informed participation in the political process on moral public issues like healthcare, environment, fair wages, prolife, immigration, etc. People of faith must bring their values into political discussions since politics is how important decisions are made that will affect the common good. This is ..

As we celebrate the Paschal Mystery come to fullness and the great promise of Resurrection, we offer the painting, Triptych of Salvation by artist ...

ACTIVE SHOOTER PREPAREDNESS The police have learned new information from studying previous mass shootings. What can we learn to...

As we move toward the conclusion of the liturgical season of Lent, Contemplative Core Team member Carolyn Hebenstreit shares a reflection she discovered, in the hope that we will integrate the true meaning of Lent into every aspect of our lives:...

Fr. Thomas Keating discusses how contemplative prayer draws us into a participation in the life of Christ: If our contemplative practice, or Centering Prayer as our way into [contemplation] is really genuine, or you understand it correctly...

Mental Illness is a disease, like any  other medical condition. Individuals need support, intervention and continued treatment.  In the US 21 million adults live with depression, while 3 million youth, ages 3-17 experience major depression, anxiety disorders,  panic attacks and...

Humans generally understand the different contexts in which we come to truly know a person each add texture and different levels of intimacy to a relationship: dinner with parents reveals something different from caring for...

The last of the seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching is Care for God’s Creation. Genesis tells us that God created the earth in all its beauty, and lastly, he created man to rule over the earth. Therefore, we are ...

Fr. Thomas Keating continues discussing the gift of “letting go” in Centering Prayer: [In Centering Prayer, we] entrust ourselves and all our loved ones to God’s infinite mercy, with a firm confidence that perhaps ...

“He [God] rested on the seventh day after all the work he had been doing” (Gen.2:2). Part of God’s work was creating humanity in his own image. Catholic Social Teaching promotes the idea that work is a sacred act; work is dignified because it is a form of continuing participation in God’s work, his creation. Rights of workers (productive work, fair wages, safety, organization, private property, etc.) must be...

Fr. Thomas Keating reflects on how Centering Prayer fulfills Jesus’s direction to go to your “inner room” to pray: Following the formula that Jesus offers us in Matthew 6:6, the Centering Prayer practice is ...

 The Catholic Social Teaching Principle of Solidarity is based on the common belief that every person was created by God, and all are brothers and sisters in one human family, the Body of Christ. Solidarity has a common root with the words “solo” and “solitary”, meaning “one”. St. Paul reminds us: “When one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers. When one part....

In its Daily Meditations, the Center for Action and Contemplation recently ran the following reader feedback from a man named “Stephan H.,” in which he shares his contemplative practice of “Marvelling,” which we offer to you here: I have been a Trappist monk for 40 years. I have experimented with many different exercises of prayer and...

Jesus’ mission was to bring the good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives, give sight to the blind, and to set the downtrodden free. (Luke 4:18-19) According to Matthew 25:31-46, our mission, ...

One of the key dispositions for Centering Prayer, and indeed for all contemplative practices, is a release of all expectations. On one level, dispensing of expectations in prayer serves a very functional, practical purpose: the fact is that “mistakes” will happen as part of our prayer practice – we may become distracted, fall asleep, or miss a designated time of prayer entirely, for example. Any expectation of....

One theme Catholic Social Teaching addresses is the Rights and Responsibilities of every Catholic.  Our Catholic Church teaches that “each person has human rights as a child and friend of God.”  In the encyclical...

Cindy Yamnitz reflects on the gift of silence: Be still and know that I am God. In stillness, we can find silence. Silence is the language of ...